UMaine System students and faculty skeptical of seven-figure ChatGPT contract
University of Maine System launches ChatGPT Edu amid mixed reactions and financial scrutiny
Orono — When Jared Fairfield, a 36-year-old social work graduate student at the University of Southern Maine, received artificial intelligence–generated feedback on his first psychology methods assignment this fall, he felt disoriented. The comment came from a professor who acknowledged using ChatGPT, pointing to a recent university system announcement about its investment in the tool. Fairfield raised concerns about the ethics of the practice, and the professor responded candidly: he had used it, and referenced the system leader’s statement that the technology would “help strengthen teaching and research.”
Later, the professor emailed every student in the class, telling them to expect that all responses would be “augmented with AI.” Fairfield said the move felt inappropriate for a graduate-level course, though he noted the professor “wasn’t doing anything he couldn’t do.”
The interaction arrived against the backdrop of the University of Maine System’s rollout of ChatGPT Edu to all students, staff and faculty through a $1.4 million, two-year contract with OpenAI. The agreement, finalized in May 2026, makes the tool available across the system’s seven campuses to roughly 30,000 individuals. As of Oct. 8, more than 3,700 people had activated accounts, which include data privacy protections and prohibit use for training OpenAI’s models. adoption rates varied: about 8.8 percent of students, 22 percent of faculty and 30 percent of staff had signed up.
Ryan Low, formerly the system’s chief financial officer, now serves as vice chancellor of AI integration. He said the rollout has proceeded as anticipated, with strong interest in the training sessions offered systemwide. The contract came after the system’s AI Working Group—convened in fall 2024 and comprising university presidents, administrators, a trustee, a faculty member and a student—recommended in a August 2025 report that the system make a single AI tool universally accessible. The group warned that “strategic, deliberate investment now” would determine whether the University of Maine System becomes a leader in the AI transformation or is left reacting to it.
Before the systemwide contract, more than 12,600 students, 700 faculty members and 1,335 staff already held free or paid ChatGPT accounts using @maine.edu addresses. Faculty surveys conducted by the working group at the University of Maine and the University of Maine at Presque Isle found that a majority of professors would be willing to use AI tools if they were easily accessible. The system put out a public request for proposals in spring 2026 and received four bids—one from OpenAI and three from Gemini, Google’s chatbot product. Ryan Low said the decision came down primarily to cost.
The working group had initially recommended funding the tool through a per-credit-hour fee of $18 to $20, but faculty pushed back, and the system instead paid with unbudgeted investment income. The announcement in May 2026 described the tool as intended to “accelerate student institutional success.”
Not everyone welcomed the move. A anonymous survey of 137 professional staff members by the system’s union this summer found that about 69 percent disagreed ChatGPT would positively impact their work or productivity. More than 80 percent were extremely dissatisfied with how the university communicated the contract, and nearly 90 percent said they were dissatisfied with the $1.4 million expenditure. Paula Gerstenblatt, a professor of social work at USM, said she has no place for AI in her classroom. “I need to know where they are in their writing, in their critical thinking,” she said. “If you’re using a tool like AI, it’s going to polish it up, and I don’t know where you are.” She also questioned the argument that AI familiarity is essential for workforce readiness, noting that her field demands multi-faceted, civically engaged thinkers.
Amir Kordijazi, an industrial engineering professor at USM who studies AI applications in manufacturing, took a different view. He supports the contract because he believes higher education has a responsibility to lead in AI innovation and ensure the technology benefits the public. “Given the pace of this transformation, I don’t believe our educational institution can afford to remain on the sidelines,” he said. “In fact, I believe they have a responsibility to take a leading role.” He added that all of his students are already using AI, so he feels a duty to educate them on how to use it thoughtfully.
Erin Bertoni, a social work graduate student at the University of Maine’s flagship campus, said skepticism is universal within her cohort. “I’m not anti-AI, but I have concerns about the specific deal,” she said, citing OpenAI’s ongoing copyright litigation and shareholder investigations. “We’re paying a lot of money for education, and we’re getting watered-down education,” Bertoni said. “I think it really hinders academic integrity and learning, the capacity to learn.” She added she is not sure she would have chosen UMaine following the contract.
The Maine Campus, the university’s student newspaper, called for greater transparency in the AI acquisition process in a September editorial, arguing the contract calls the system’s concern for academic integrity into question. “To the professors who have strict AI policies in their classes and view using it as cheating, this program could seem like an endorsement for that behavior,” the board wrote.
In response to mounting discussion, USM’s faculty senate last week passed a policy—after several rounds of voting—that will require professors to disclose all AI use to students and permit students to opt out of being graded with AI. Shelter Waldrep, the faculty senate member who drafted the policy, said the debate was contentious and required multiple votes before passage. The proposal now goes to the president and provost, who have 30 days to approve it before it can take effect. No system-wide policy exists; each university will set its own guidelines.
The financial context looms large. The University of Maine System is facing a $19 million budget shortfall, and faculty and staff have been told to expect layoffs. Sara Abronze, president of the system’s professional staff union, said many in her unit fear their jobs could be replaced by AI. She sent a letter to Low in May sharing those worries and requesting more information about the contract; she said she was disappointed by the meeting that followed. Ryan Low said it is too early to know whether the system will extend the agreement with OpenAI beyond the initial two years, or how it might be funded if so. The contract includes options for three additional one-year extensions, the first costing $693,665. Any decision would be made publicly at board of trustee meetings. Warren, the system’s spokesperson, said the investment has earned national recognition and is expected to help recruit students and faculty, as well as attract increased philanthropic and federal funding. She cited an ongoing National Science Foundation application to expand AI literacy across the state.
As AI becomes more embedded in workplaces and universities nationwide, the University of Maine System positions itself as a “national AI leader.” Whether that leadership translates into enhanced learning, or deepens divides around cost, access and academic integrity, remains to be seen—and will likely be decided in the months and years ahead.
